Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“Grayson—”
“Grab your drink,” he orders softly. “Let’s go to the patio where you won’t feel as trapped as you feel right now.” He steps away from the bar and starts walking.
He knows me too well. He still knows me like no one else in this world, but it means nothing. Grayson observes people. He reads people. I pick up my drink and stand up. Grayson is to my left, opening the curtains. I join him as he opens the patio door and I step under the awning into the stone-encased private porch overlooking the ocean; the sun hidden behind clouds, a storm rumbling in the distance. I love storms over the ocean. The fireplace in the corner flickers to life and Grayson steps to my side.
I down my drink. “Now I can let it wear off before I drive.” I set the glass on the table to our left that seats two and matches the one to our right, and then walk to the stone wall directly in front of us, my hands settling on the finished wooden rail above it.
I hear Grayson’s glass touch the table before he steps to my side, his hands on the rail as well. “Talk to me, Mia.”
I look over at him. “I came to warn you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ri is coming after you,” I say.
He laughs. “Ri is always coming after me. He’s been coming after me since law school when I made him look bad, and now that we both run our family empires, he’s still trying to best me. He won when he got you.”
I face him, and he does the same with me. “That’s not even close to true. He didn’t get me.”
“He’s my enemy and you left me, my bed and my company to go to him, his bed, and his company.”
“That’s not true. I needed a job and that’s on you.”
“You didn’t need a damn job,” he bites out.
I shove fingers through my hair. “This is not why I’m here. I need you to listen to me.”
“You want to tell me how the man you’re fucking wants to fuck me?”
“I am not fucking Ri. Stop. Listen to me, Grayson. I need you to listen to me.”
“Like you listened to me? Because I tried really damn hard to get you to listen to me, Mia. Do you remember? Because I damn sure do.”
I hug myself, backing up to rest against the concrete pillar behind me. “I listened. It wasn’t enough, but you need to listen to me now. I just took a week off to look for a new job. I went to an interview at the DA’s office.”
“The DA’s office? You won’t make any money there. Why would you even consider such a thing? You’re too good for that place.”
“I’m tired of money. Your money. Ri’s money. I want to be someplace that isn’t about money and power, only I was there all of forty-five minutes and I knew that place was no different. They’re all looking for power, the kind you have, which makes them hate you.”
“What does that mean?”
“I was sitting in an office with an open door. There were men, four of them, I think, in the conference room across from me. They were talking about the billionaire who pretends to be ethical and perfect. Who thinks he’s untouchable, but he’s not. They said they have insiders in your operation. They said they’re going to take you down and look like kings.”
“Did they say my name?”
“No, but—”
“I don’t break the law. That’s not me.”
“I know that. That’s why I’m here. I was afraid your phones were being monitored because Grayson, it was you they were talking about. I know it. I felt it and I remember a card from a detective on Ri’s desk. He’s somehow setting you up.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “And you’re telling me, the man you say betrayed you, why?”
“You’re not a criminal. And that’s all I have to say.” I push off the wall and try to walk past Grayson, but he shackles my arm and pulls me to him.
We stare at each other, our lower bodies pressed together, the past between us, and in this moment, it’s pulling us closer, not pushing us apart. Thunder crashes above us and rain explodes from the sky, plummeting the ceiling above us and beyond the patio. Grayson tangles the fingers of one hand in my hair, while the other flattens between my shoulder blades. “You didn’t really think I’d let you leave without doing this, did you?” he asks, his mouth closing down on mine.
Chapter four
Mia
The minute Grayson’s mouth is on my mouth, his body pressed to mine, I forget everything but him. It’s like I can breathe again, like I’ve barely been living until right here, right now. I don’t want to, but I still love him, and I didn’t think I would ever kiss him or touch him again. He backs me up and presses me against the wide concrete pillar that divides the railings and walls, his fingers tangling into my hair, his hand slipping under my sweater, his warm palm pressing to my ribcage. It’s not until that hand cups my breast that I jolt into reality.